U.S. commanders are upbeat on Afghan war progress

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2012, photo, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta poses for a photo with troops at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. U.S. commanders are offering glowing reviews of their 2012 Afghanistan war campaign. And the upbeat assessments that could be interpreted as leeway for President Barack Obama to order another round of troop withdrawals next summer. Panetta has not yet recommended to Obama a specific pace of withdrawals for 2013. But during the Pentagon chief’s two-day visit to the war zone last week, commanders suggested that things are going better than is generally believed by an American public weary of war after 11 years. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

Photo: Susan Walsh, Associated Press

KABUL — U.S. commanders are offering glowing reviews of their 2012 war campaign, upbeat assessments that could be interpreted as leeway for President Barack Obama to order another round of troop withdrawals next summer.

Obama faces tension between calls by Democrats and even some Republicans to wind down the war more quickly and the military's desire to avoid a too-fast pullout that might squander hard-won sacrifices.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has not yet recommended to Obama a specific pace of withdrawals for 2013. But during the Pentagon chief's two-day visit to the war zone this past week, commanders suggested that things are going better than is generally believed by an American public weary of war after 11 years.

Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams, for example, cited “astounding” progress in the Zaray district of Kandahar province, where the Taliban once held sway. Abrams, the top coalition commander in southern Afghanistan, said Afghan forces are now “dominating” in that district.

He foresees a smaller coalition force by next summer, but he was not recommending or predicting U.S. reductions. He was arguing that Afghan forces are performing so well that they should be able to hold their ground in 2013 with less coalition power.

No decision on 2013 U.S. troop withdrawals is likely to be announced until after Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets with Obama in Washington early next month. The United States has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Panetta announced in Kabul on Thursday that Karzai had agreed to go to Washington the week of Jan. 7 to discuss the pace of coalition troop withdrawals as well as a U.S. military role in his country after December 2014, when the international coalition's combat mission is to end.

Obama withdrew 23,000 U.S. troops this year, after 10,000 in 2011. There have been calls in Congress for Obama to accelerate the withdrawal next year, and from commanders' own assessments of progress, it appears this could be coming.

Commanders portrayed the Taliban as fraying and failing, though not yet defeated.